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Esprit Wings and Wheels
Charting the History of the Esprit Add-onsA lot has been made of the amount of different alloy wheels an wings (or spoilers) that have appeared on the Esprit over the years. This page plots the history of all the wheels & wings that have made the Esprit prettier and uglier, right from the pre-production silver car, to last Esprit to be producted, the 2002 'Facelift' Esprit.
Only 7 different wings (or spoilers) have appeared on production Esprits. The first Esprit to wear a wing was the Limited addition 1988 X180R for the American market, with all but the GT3 and V8-GT sporting different wings up to present day, with several models wearing the same wings through updates. You may not have noticed, but there also been changes to the rear transom, which is the lip on the boot. This has changed in size and style over the years depending on the wing that's been fitted. You can read more about wings here.
As for wheels, the Esprit has worn 13 different alloys, going from 14" on the S1 to 18" on the S4s through to the current V8. Tyres have gone from 195f/205r on the S1 to a massive 245f/315r on the 300 sport. Makes such as OZ, BBS, AWI and Wolfrace have all tried to make the Esprit's feet more appealing through the years.
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Lotus Silver Car |
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| The
original 'Silver' Giugiaro design study was dressed in shiny Wolfrace wheels. |
A
smooth rear seemed to be unaware of the need for huge downforce. |
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| 14" Wolfrace
wheels make it into production from the silver car. |
No
wings yet! Little change from the concept car, although the transom (lip is a little bigger) |
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| 14" Speedlines
take the place of the Wolfrace wheels at the personal behest of Colin Chapman. |
Still
no wing! but nice new lights for the S2. |
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| 14" Speedlines
get painted gold for the JPS special. |
No
wing and same transom for the Black & Gold special. |
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| New
BBS alloys grow an inch to 15", same spec as more powerful Turbo. |
No wing or modified transom needed for the 160bhp S3. | ||
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| 15" Compomotive
alloys are found on early Turbos and Essex before being replaced by BBS. |
A
special and a Turbo and still no wing! But the Transom does some of the work. A big lip for the first turbo. |
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| 15" BBS
alloys are the same as the less powerful S3. |
Over
200bhp and still no wing, it might take off if it doesn't get one soon! But don't panic, the transom still there. |
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| 15" Lotus
designed OZ Route alloys show a marked change in style. |
No
wing yet, but the Turbo gets some glass! As you can see the Transom has reduced due to the newer aerodynamics of the stevens shape. |
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| 15" on
the front and 16" on the rear Lotus designed OZ Route alloys. |
First Wing to appear on an Esprit, the SE enjoyed 2 different wings, a low one from 1989-1991 and a high one from 1992-1993. No noticeable change to the transom. | ||
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| Split-rims for the Limited Edition Racecar Celebration for the American Market only. Expensive and rare! | Modified SE wing, or more likely a replica from the actural racecar. The X180R was a limited edition for the American Market, with only 20 being made. $126,000 new! Notice how it's attached to the rear lip, unlike the SEs. This won't be seen again till the S4S. |
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| New
17" OZ 5 spoke alloy show off the S4's new bodywork. |
Wing
number 3, or is it 4, gets higher and closer to aid rear visability. The Transom is also redesigned along with other bodywork mods for the S4 |
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| New
split-rim OZ alloys, 16" on the front, 17" on the rear, also wearing the largest tyres to ever appear on an Esprit 245f/315r. |
A
Large swooping wing, the first not to be attached to the raising boot, making putting anything in the rear a bit of an up and under. |
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| OZ 'Futura' Split-Rim 3-piece alloys, 17" on the front, 18" on the rear. These will be the largest the Esprit will ever wear as the last 'Facelift' Esprit sticks with the same size. Poor lacquer on the dishes proved a problem for many owners | Stolen from the 300 Sport the S4S won't be taking off with that on the back. Transom unchanged. | ||
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| Split-rim OZ 'Futura' Split-Rim 3-piece alloys from the S4S still 17" on the front, 18" on the rear. | The 3rd model to sport the same wing with the same Transom. A popular wing to add to earlier models. See here. | ||
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| 'AWI' 6-spoke monobloc alloys and one of the most popular, getting rare now, still 17" on the front, 18" on the rear. | New
wheels, New interior, same wing Standard on SE, opional on the GT. |
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| 5-spoke
OZ alloys, 17" all round. Same as S4 model. |
Back
to the good/bad old days with no wing. Transom is larger to stabilize handling |
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| OZ
Racing 'Saturn Plus' 6-spoke monobloc alloys
still 17" on the front, 18" on the rear. |
New wheels, New wing! Same style wing shape as before, but now lifted by 2 struts to aid visibility. Break light fitted to meet US Regs. Large Transom on cars without wings fitted. | ||
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| OZ
Racing 'Crono Magnesio' 5-spoke magnesium
alloys,
17" on the front, 18" on the rear. Lightest alloy fitted to a production
car at the time. Expensive! |
New wing made of carbonfibre, sitting on milled aluminium pylons, with high-level brake light. Short Transom. | ||
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| The new "crystal titanium" finish multi spoke OZ Racing 'Nova' alloy wheels. | New wheels, Same Wing. 2002 Esprit comes with wing as standard and a short transom. | ||
Then there's the
Esprits with a different models wing on
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